


Fairly Normal

by panicking



Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: Angst, Fluff, M/M, Zombie Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-14
Updated: 2015-07-14
Packaged: 2018-04-09 09:46:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4343741
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/panicking/pseuds/panicking
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Nix almost goes down in a zombie ambush and Dick may have freaked out and done something he really shouldn't have. Harry consoles and makes Dick do the right thing, eventually.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fairly Normal

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired and based on the zombie au by punkparatroopers and nickyoflaherty, assisted by punkparatroopers and eetrelibre.

The day started out fairly normal, or as normal as it ever was. Normal meant that a group of six or so was chosen to go on the weekly recon mission for food, supplies, news, and contact with humans besides those holed up at Bull’s ranch. Normal meant that there were zombies running rampant, even though the humans had gotten much better at killing them (again? how do you kill someone who’s already dead? chopping off their heads was the general consensus) and surviving with what the world had left to offer.

Today the group was Dick, Nixon, Bill, Johnny, Frank, and Skinny, who had all either volunteered or been chosen randomly. Through some strange act of serendipity, Frank and Skinny had been on the same patrols nearly every time they were chosen. Frank was not a fan of this arrangement, particularly since their last patrol. Skinny had shot a zombie right next to Frank and the blood had splattered rather magnificently all over him. They were in an ongoing battle over whether it was truly Skinny’s fault or not.

But they couldn’t fault the system. After any volunteers had signed up, someone, usually Harry, would take the roster and stab it with a pen a few times. It was a fair system, but that was pretty much all that could be said for it.

Somewhere along the road to the nearest settlement, Frank, armed with a rather large bucket of sunflower seeds to trade for something more substantial, was explaining the argument to Johnny.

“You see, it’s not that he easily could have killed me instead of the zombie. That’s fine, but did he really have to ruin my best pants while doing it?”

“They’re your only pair of pants, Frank. I don’t think it’s that big of a deal.”

“What do you mean, not that big of a deal? And them being my only pair of pants doesn’t matter, it’s the principle. There’s now blood stains over my best pair of pants, and I really would rather they not be there.”

“He saved your life, Perco. Give it-“

Johnny stopped suddenly and raised a fist. Everyone crouched down, ears and eyes alert. They had all heard the crunch of a leaf that was definitely not from them. Next they heard a gentle moan directly to their right, and then they were surrounded. Reanimated corpses and infected people rushed at the group in a mob, the smarter ones throwing stones and other solid projectiles. Compared to other groups of zombies, this was quite small, but considering that the humans numbered a solid six, the zombies appeared overwhelming. Nearly.

“Nix!” yelled Dick, his back to the middle of the circle that they had formed immediately. “I thought you said that the settlement had cleared this section!”

“I did say that,” Nix yelled back, ducking to avoid a rather large chunk of dead flesh that was flung from who-knows-where. The area was filled with a cacophony of sounds, ranging from the moans of zombies to the yells of the men, which partnered nicely with either shots from their guns or the slashing of machetes. “Apparently the intel was wrong.”

The fight continued, with zombies falling left and right and left again. It seemed that the humans had stumbled upon a small horde of zombies.

“Nix,” asked Dick again, his voice still raised to carry over the noise of the melee. “Do you think the settlement is still there, if we’re getting these guys?”

“I’m not sure, but there’s a pos-“

Nix’s voice cut short, accompanied by a quiet gasp of surprise.

“NIX!” yelled Dick, his voice frantic. While Nix’s head had been turned to answer Dick, one of the more intelligent zombies had thrown a rock and hit Nix in the head, who had fallen. Logically, Dick knew that Nix was probably all right, but his concentration had shifted from the fight to the man on the ground. He turned and shot a zombie right between the eyes but paid no real heed to what he did. Instead, his mind was red, with the name “Nix” flashing like a billboard in Times Square.

Dick paid little attention to the rest of the altercation, his motions reduced to mere muscle memory. Sometime later, he saw Nix up and fighting again and his panic dimmed slightly, but his mind still blared red. At the end of the fight, he looked around and saw the last zombie falling to the ground, shot through the chest by Bill. Dick took a deep breath and looked around to make sure there were truly no more.

“Is everyone okay?” he asked, his feet already moving toward Nix, on the other side of the now broken circle. Dick vaguely registered a murmured assent from the rest of the group, which calmed him somewhat, but at that moment he did not entirely care about the rest of the group. When he reached Nix, he stood straight and looked up at Dick, a weak smile on his face.

“Are you okay?” asked Dick, his eyes roving Nix’s body to make sure there was no visible blood, no new injuries other than the blow to the head.

“Yeah, Dick, I’m fine. Are you-“ Nix started, but his sentence was cut short as Dick suddenly kissed him. Dick’s hand cradled the back of Nix’s head, almost absently. Dick was not entirely sure what his goal had been, but the outcome was rather nice. Somehow, Nix was kissing back. Dick returned to the present moment with a jerk–he was kissing his best friend in front of four other guys after being attacked by zombies. Right.

Feeling slightly dazed, Dick pulled back a touch before resting his forehead against Nix’s and opening his eyes slowly. He saw Nix blink his own eyes open, wide and slightly confused. Dick noticed that Nix was breathing shallowly and rather fast, so he closed his eyes and stepped back hurriedly. He promptly turned around and looked at the four others, who were either pretending to be preoccupied or were openly staring. Bill was the only one who fell into the latter category.

“Perconte, Skinny, Nix, do a sweep of the area, make sure we aren’t going to run into any other surprises. Guarnere, Martin, you’re with me, make sure everything stays dead. Meet back here in half an hour, then we’ll go back to base. I’ll send a patrol out here tomorrow, more heavily armed and with more people, just in case. It’s too late to send another one out by the time we get back. They’ll check on the settlement and any nearby houses to make sure they’re all okay, also warn them. Go,” he concluded, already unsheathing his machete. He heard the three men he’d chosen gather and leave, electing to search the right side of the road first.

A few moments later, he looked up to see Bill still staring at him. Likely, he had separated some zombie heads from zombie bodies in between the bouts of staring, but Bill had an uncanny ability to focus on a person for long periods of time.

“What?” asked Dick, standing up and letting the blade dangle from his hands in front of him. Bill’s eyes narrowed significantly as he turned to face Dick head-on.

“You just kissed your best friend, I think that deserves some kind of explanation. Is there something you’ve been hiding from the rest of us, you and Nix together? You two been banging this whole time?”

“Jesus, Bill, no. Just, forget that this happened, okay?” Dick looked away quickly and moved on to the next zombie, quickly decapitating it.

\-------

The six of them returned to the ranch in near silence. Dick assembled the company and told them what had transpired and that there would be another, more fortified patrol the next day. He then went to one of the rooms used for storage and started organizing. Living with so many people led to lots of rooms being used for storage, which led to lots of incredibly messy storage rooms. Dick often retreated to them when he needed to think or be out of the way.

At the present moment, he just wanted to be away from people. People like Nix. Especially Nix.

There was a gentle knock at the door which opened as Dick turned around. “Harry. What are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here?” asked Harry, closing the door behind him and crossing his arms as he leaned on the door. “Looking for you. Why on earth did I have to hear that you kissed Nix from Bill, of all people? Why are you both not rejoicing in your newfound coupleness?”

Dick laughed, a short huff of breath. “We aren’t a couple, Harry. I just made a mistake and we should all forget it. I’m sure that’s what he’s trying to do.”

Harry shook his head and leaned back. “No, I’m quite sure that Nixon is not doing his best to forget that you kissed him. He’s wondering why you kissed him and then acted like it didn’t happen and haven’t made any attempts to talk to him. He probably thinks that you regret the entire thing and wish that it never happened.”

“You talked to him and he said that?”

“Talk to him? Dick, I didn’t need to talk to him. I could clearly see him moping in his corner. Moping. That man has a face like an open book when he mopes. You’ve seen it, we all have. Hell, even Liebgott knew something was up. You have to talk to him, Dick.”

“Talk to him? What would I say? Hey, best friend I’ve had for my entire life, I kissed you and am sorry about it, it won’t happen again?”

“No, Dick. That is not. No. Why would you say that?”

“Because that’s what he wants, Harry. He wants it to not have happened and for it to never happen again, so it won’t. I won’t make a mistake like that again.”

“Mistake? Dick, that was not a mistake. I am sure that he would most certainly like for it to happen again.”

“He–what? No, you’re wrong. You have to be wrong.”

“For the love of God, Dick, go talk to him. Please. You’ve been holed up in here for hours.”

Dick looked at him and exhaled loudly. “You really think that’s a good idea? Talking to him?”

“Yes. The Dick Winters I know does not run and hide. You have to fix this.”

Dick sighed once more and ran his hands through his hair. Squaring his shoulders, he left the room, glaring halfheartedly at Harry on the way.

\-------

“Nix? Hey, mind if I sit here?” Dick asked, already sitting down next to Nix. Dick found Nix in a far corner of the ranch house, reading an old paperback. Rather, he was pretending to read, since Dick hadn’t seen him turn a page or even look at the book. Nix looked up at him and shook his head, gesturing with the book for Dick to sit down.

“Look, about earlier. I’m sorry that I kissed you and I know you don’t want it to happen again. I shouldn’t have, especially not in front of the men.” Dick chanced a glance at Nix. His eyes were wide and his eyebrows raised, his head tilted a little and turned towards Dick.

“Happen again?” Nix asked, his voice slightly higher than normal. “You think I don’t want it to happen again?”

“You want to forget it, right?” asked Dick, slightly unsure of himself. “Because you don’t like me, we’re just friends. So you want to forget all about it and pretend that it never happened. I understand.”

“Are you serious?” The words came out in a rush, sharp and almost mocking. Nix stared at Dick, then tipped his head back against the wall. “You honestly think I want to forget about this?”

Dick furrowed his eyebrows and opened his mouth to respond but was cut short.

“Dick, good, you’re here. Listen, we’re assembling the roster for the patrol tomorrow, can you finish it?” Luz appeared in the doorway, seemingly apologetic.

“Sure, Luz. Be right there.” Dick turned to Nix as he stood up, Nix’s eyes following his movements. “We’ll finish this later, okay?”

Nix’s eyes flickered up to Dick’s before returning to his still unread book.

“Okay,” he said, nodding slowly.

\-------

Figuring out who should go on the next patrol took over an hour, which was an hour longer than Dick wanted to spend figuring out who would be best prepared to take down any and all minor hordes in the zombie-infested world the next day. Once the list was finalized, Dick headed back to what had been affectionately christened “Nix’s Corner” to finish talking to Nix. Who was not there. Dick checked the other haunts Nix (and, by extension, Dick) frequented, but they were all vacant. So Dick returned to the supply room because it really did need to be organized. There could only be so many size medium winter coats with little to no holes in one house.

After a good half hour, Dick stopped his work and looked around. The room was considerably easier to maneuver in than before, and the medium coats had been separated from the large coats, as well as the coats with zippered pockets from coats without zippered pockets. Dick was nothing if not organized.

He made another round of the house to check for Nix, but to no avail. He did, however, find Babe teaching Roe how to juggle, an endeavor which was not going incredibly successfully.

Dick returned to the supply room aimlessly, his shoulders drooping slightly. A moment later, Harry entered the room, pinching the bridge of his nose when he saw Dick.

“What are you doing, Dick? I thought I told you to fix this.”

“I started talking to Nix but then I had to work out the patrol tomorrow. I told him that we’d finish it later.”

Harry took a deep breath and let it out, slowly.

Dick sat down on an empty crate and massaged his temples. “He’s avoiding me, isn’t he?” Dick asked, staring at the ground.

“Yeah,” huffed Harry. “Yeah, he’s avoiding you. The one guy that he wants to kiss him thinks that it was a mistake and shouldn’t have happened. And now he’s certain that you’ll never kiss him again because what happened out there was a fluke and you just thought he could have died so you kissed him and it was this weird post-battle stress mistake. So he’s avoiding you. Also, he’s up in the attic, if you wanted to know.”

Dick’s head shot up and he stood up in one motion, his eyes focused on Harry. “You said that he wants me to kiss him?”

“Yeah, buddy. Has been wanting you to for a while. Except that he doesn’t think that someone as, and I quote, ‘incredible as Dick,’ would ever love him back. So go fix this.”

“Thanks, Harry. I appreciate it,” Dick said, already on his way out the door.

\-------

“Nix, there you are,” said Dick, smiling tentatively.

Nix looked up from his book and set it down quietly next to him. “Sorry I had to leave in the middle of our conversation last time.”

“No, it’s fine. You had to go figure out who to send out, I understand.”

Dick sat down next to Nix and looked at him evenly. Nix glanced at him and looked away, breathing out slightly.

“So I talked to Harry, and he told me that-”

“Oh, well if Harry told you, then it must be true,” said Nix reproachfully and rolled his eyes. Dick looked at him, his eyebrows raising.

“Are you going to let me finish?”

Nix looked at him for a moment before nodding and gesturing for him to continue.

“Harry told me that you said that you thought that I could never love someone like you and I want to tell you that you are absolutely wrong. I thought that you just wanted to be friends, and I accepted that and tried to respect that. But I do love you and today was such a close call that it just…happened.” Dick finished and leaned his head back against the wall.

When no response came from Nix, Dick looked sideways at the man sitting next to him. Nix was staring at him, his eyebrows raised.

After a moment, Nix spoke. “You thought that I just wanted to be friends? That I…” he trailed off, unsure. He shook his head wearily. “God, Dick.” Nix laughed ruefully, no longer looking at Dick. “You’re not just saying that, to make me feel better, are you? No, you’re not, you’re too good for that. Can you just give me a moment?”

“Sure, Lew,” said Dick, his voice warm and unsure. They sat there in silence, Dick watching Nix carefully.

Nix’s laugh broke the silence. “You’re serious? About this, and me?”

“Of course.” Dick waited for a response but heard nothing. He opened his mouth to say something and then, suddenly, felt warm lips on his. Nix. Kissing him. Right. He should kiss back.

So he did, moving his hand up to cup the back of Nix’s head. He curled his fingers gently in Nix’s hair, feeling a hand cup his jaw. The moment lasted for a short while more, until they broke apart. Dick looked at Nix and grinned, feeling one side of his mouth crook up.

“And you’re good with this?” asked Nix, still slightly unsure but smiling anyway.

“Mhmm,” agreed Dick, kissing Nix lightly on the nose.

**Author's Note:**

> Also posted on my tumblr (aanimagi)


End file.
